Food with a Story

He is here. Sawyer Keith arrived March 11 at 3:24 am (soon after the time change) weighing 8 lbs 5 oz. He came when he was ready, which in the end was a perfect idea. I went into labour on my own, pushed him out on my own (no forceps) a mere six hours later. He was ready to nurse immediately and continues to be a great eater, now weighing 9 lbs 10 oz. I was ready, he was ready. That made my one week over due all worth it (that is still hard to type though). My midwife Sheila Jager was a superstar. I cannot imagine doing it without her. By the end of the pregnancy I was seeing her quite often. Once my six week post natal care is over it will be strange not to see her anymore. I will miss her and our laughter filled visits.

I am not even sure I can convey how happy I feel, like way deep down happy. I look at my two healthy, amazing sons and my ever supportive husband and feel like I might be the luckiest woman in the world. Of course it has been busy and I am getting less than the ideal amount of sleep. But this is it, this is what it is all about. Through dietetics I have had the pleasure of working with a lot of the over 80 crowd. When we chat nine times out of ten their stories come back to when they had young children. It reinforces to me how this needs to be soaked in. Being the second time around I know how fast it goes. I find myself taking more time to cuddle, look at tiny toes, smell that pure baby smell and take it all in. I also spend a lot less time worrying...I have not had one late night Google-fest. That was a near constant with my first son. I trust myself as a mother more.

I have also taken so much enjoyment out of sharing him with my family. Seeing my two sets of grandparents meet him for the first time was very emotional. I loved watching them re-live their own moments with their babies and still marvel at the magic of a new baby. Mine and my husband's parents are also over the moon in love...they are incredibly supportive and bring a richness to our kids lives that I cannot even quantify. And Hudson...he loves Sawyer. He might love him a little too much sometimes. That's the way it goes with siblings though.

I thought I would share the recipe for the dinner we had the night I went into labour, seems fitting. At the time of eating I was thinking I was having false alarm cramps....again. This recipe for Chipotle Turkey Burgers was actually discovered by my husband and is always made by him too.

These are not tasteless turkey burgers...they are bursting with flavour. You can top them with traditional toppings like tomato, lettuce, cheddar cheese, pickle, light mayo, etc. or go the Mexican route with guacamole, salsa, pepper jack cheese, jalapenos. Either way, delicious. We like to make a few regular patties plus some slider sized for the young ones.

These will be forever known in our house as Chipotle Sawyer Turkey Burgers.

I was really hoping this week's blog post would be a birth announcement of sorts. Ummm, no. I have said about ten thousand times during this pregnancy and my last "I would hate to go overdue". Well here I am, five days over. Do I hate it? Yes I do. I am not patient, I feel like I have served my time. The one up side is that it will for sure end, at the latest, in five days. I would just like this munchkin to come on his own. I am really hoping to avoid being induced again. The only thing I can do is keep myself busy, rest and try to remain positive. I am starting to think my body is against actually going into labour. Enough complaining though, I still feel OK and baby is healthy (and maybe a little too happy). BUT I still have earned the right to vent.

I will admit the keeping busy part has been quite rewarding. I have spent a lot of time with my son at various activities, parks and play dates. I have seen many girlfriends that have provided me with much needed humor, trash magazines, books and in some cases their own stories of the torture of being overdue. I may have also consumed an unmentionable number of Shamrock Shakes from McDonalds (yes, I do set foot in that restaurant). My husband seems to have the patience of a saint, or is trying really hard to keep it together for my sake. Of course I have been cooking, a lot.

I have used peanut butter as a topping for pancakes, but had never made or seen a recipe for peanut butter pancakes. When I came across this one on Pinterest and saw the simple ingredient list I had to try them. I made them Peanut Butter Banana Pancakes.

In small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the milk and peanut butter until smooth. Add to the dry ingredients and beat just until a batter is formed. Do not over-beat.

Pre-heat a nonstick saute pan or griddle over medium heat. Spoon the batter by 1/4 cupfuls in to the pan. Lay banana slices onto batter. Cook until golden brown on both sides. Serve immediately. Adapted from here.

I loved them, they felt like a huge treat. They are so fast to put together (no eggs, or oil needed), and have an extra hit of protein. The batter is fairly thick so watch your pan temperature. If it is too hot you are going to get an undercooked middle. I am sure this would work with processed peanut butter, in which case I would omit the sugar. I changed the recipe by using whole wheat flour, omitting the salt and adding banana. I made a double batch to ensure we had extras for another breakfast, that was a good call. I served them with a plate of mixed fruit and maple syrup. They are 100% toddler approved.

I really like scones, not the oversized, floury, run of the mill coffee house ones. Good, aromatic, homemade ones. I don't ever make them though. I am always turned off by the large amount of butter required. A friend sent me a recipe for grapefruit oatmeal scones, so I changed my mind in a big hurry. Grapefruit obsession + almost 40 weeks pregnant + overwhelming urge to bake = match made in heaven. I must say I am a huge believer in the 80/20 principal: making healthy choices 80% of the time and less healthy choices the rest of the 20%. Healthy eating to me isn't about constructing the perfect diet (whatever that is). Sounds like torture and a sure fire way to end up fantasizing about the foods you can't have all day long leading to over eating them when you finally get your desperate hands on them. All that said I still tweaked the recipe a little (I can't help myself).

Preheat the oven to 400°F and place a rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, oats, sugar, baking powder and baking soda. Toss the grapefruit zest and orange zest with the dry ingredients.

Add the cubed butter to the dry ingredients. Using your fingers, rub or cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles small, coarse peas. Work quickly so the butter doesn't warm too much. Add the yogurt and honey, and toss everything together with a fork until all of the dry ingredients are moistened.

Add the grapefruit pieces last. Quickly and gently envelope them into the scone mixture. You don't want the grapefruit chunks to become smashed or release much juice as that will alter the texture of your scones.

Turn the scone dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Form into an 8-inch circle, about 1-inch thick. Cut the dough into ten triangles using a knife. Place the triangles on the prepared baking sheet and sprinkle the tops with sugar.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown on top and firm but soft in the center. Cool for 15 minutes before serving. Adapted from here.

Are you kidding me? These were perfect. Waiting the recommended 15 minutes of cooling was torture. What did I change? I reduced the amount of sugar, butter and salt. I also used non-fat Greek yogurt. The original recipe called for oat flour, but I switched it for whole wheat just because I didn't have any. I also cut them into ten pieces instead of six to take down the portion size a little. I was thinking the zest of the entire grapefruit would be a little over powering, but it wasn't at all (be sure to zest your grapefruit before you segment it).

So now two days away from my due date I have a special treat to enjoy, something that seems so fitting to this grapefruit frenzied pregnancy.